# Pipe "finishes"



## asmartbull (Aug 16, 2009)

Gents
Just looking for your thoughts.
How does the " finish" of you pipe effect the pipe.
It is written in many places, to avoid pipes with shinny
lacquered finishes, but I see most of the Peterson line
is like that........Any thoughts ?


----------



## RJpuffs (Jan 27, 2008)

asmartbull said:


> Gents
> Just looking for your thoughts.
> How does the " finish" of you pipe effect the pipe.
> It is written in many places, to avoid pipes with shinny
> ...


The finish is purely cosmetic. Some laquer finishes may be sloppily applied (the one you mentioned is notorious for that kinda stuff) and cause stinky burns inside the bowl. But other than that - no effect.

However.

Top pipe makers will single out "good" briar blocks, i.e. good grain etc. They probably will expend more handmade effort on those burls, since they could yield a better "finish" and thus a higher price. So if it looks good, it "PROBABLY" had the extra attention of the pipe maker, and it "MAY" thus be made a little better than its ugly-looking cousin. And priced accordingly.

Then again, you could have a butt-ugly pipe that can stop a clock, yet smoke like a dream. Or a picture perfect finish, and a lousy smoker. Each pipe is unique, and like books, can never be judged by the cover. :anim_soapbox:


----------



## Zogg (Aug 31, 2010)

Some finished (i guess on cheap pipes?) don't allow the briar to breath, and this can result in the pipe getting too hot and even cracking while smoking it. Most shiny looking wood pipes are just stained + waxed in some way to still allow the pores of the wood to breath.
These "bad" finishes are the shellac, varnish, paint, etc etc finishes. 
These finishes most likely do include the Peterson pipes. My ebony certainly gets hotter than my other pipes, but it isnt a horribly noticeable difference.


----------



## mirain (Jun 29, 2009)

I have a few pipes that have a lacquer finish and that seem to burn hotter than non-lacquered pipes. It may be that the briar doesn't breathe as freely as a waxed finish. My preference is for finishes that are more natural than shiney.


----------



## caskwith (Apr 10, 2006)

Most of what is said about laquer and breathing is rubbish really, often is it said that pipes with a laquer finish smoke hot and wet. Well thats probably more to do with the pipe being poor quality than the finish and often the cheaper poorer quality pipes are finished in this way.
Bascially laquer finishes are easy to apply, look good on a shelf for a while and require no maintainence. However over time the laquer discolours, can crack or flake off and generally just looks cheap and plasticy in my opinion. A good waxed finish is much more labour intensive for the pipe maker and requires some upkeep by the smoker however it lets the pipe develope a lovely patina over time.


----------



## CWL (Mar 25, 2010)

I've always favored a highly-polished stain or black over sandblast. Never cared the the solid colors all that much, but that doesn't mean that nicely done ones aren't great smokers. Dunhill Dress pipes would be the first ones that come to mind.


----------



## Yamaha53 (May 22, 2010)

My personal experience is the lacquered pipes did burn hotter. Ive taken a few back down to the wood, re stained and waxed and they became very good smokers. Maybe a fluke I dunno. Not to argue with Mr. Askwith as he has probably forgotten more than I will ever know about pipes, this was just my personal experience.


----------



## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

I love seeing smooth, highly polished, nicely grained pipes. On the other hand, I love craggy sandblasted or rusticated pipes to smoke. Needless to say, most of my pipes fall into the latter category...


----------

